| abstract |
A method for determining the capacity of a human sperm to fertilize a human egg is described by assessing sperm activation events in an in vitro assay using a non-mammalian egg extract, particularly a Xenopus laevis frog egg extract. Fertilizing capacity is assessed as a comparison of sperm decondensation, DNA synthesis and/or sperm recondensation as between a test sperm sample sperm and fertile sperm, such as a sperm sample from a proven fertile human male. The method employs results from the in vitro assay to also determine relative sufficiency or insufficiency of a sperm sample for fertilizing a human egg in human couples with a history of a diagnosed unexplained infertility from standard infertility diagnostic tests. The method may also be used to screen human sperm donors in human artificial insemination programs. A fixed-slide cytoprep sperm analysis of decondensed sperm chromatin, as between a sperm test sample and a sperm sample from a proven fertile human male, may also be used to confirm in vitro decondensation results of the infertility or fertility of a particular human male. A kit is also provided for testing male sperm samples for human egg fertilizing capacity. |